Electric cooperative lineworkers in South Carolina are better and safer today because of Bobby Blume’s four decades of trailblazing service.

Now, Blume’s extraordinary career at Edisto Electric Cooperative and The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina will be properly recognized.

Blume was recently inducted into the International Lineman’s Hall of Fame. Established in 2006, the organization honors lineworkers who have made notable contributions to their field.

There is no question Blume has done that. 

He began his career with South Carolina’s co-ops in 1966 at Edisto Electric. When the co-op purchased its first bucket truck a few years later, Blume became one of the state’s first linemen to perform energized, hands-on glove work from an aerial device. Blume helped develop many of the safe work practices that would later become standard across the state’s cooperatives.

In 1976, he joined ECSC as loss control and training director, succeeding the legendary Hoyt Williams. Over the next three decades, Blume trained lineworkers, led safety meetings, helped co-ops comply with OSHA standards and coordinated mutual aid after major storms.

His efforts were recognized beyond the co-op family. The state Department of Labor recognized his impact with the Distinguished Service of Safety Award in 1981.

Blume couldn’t stay away long after his first retirement in 2000, and he returned to work part-time for ECSC from 2007-15. Even now, Blume still speaks with apprentice classes several times a year, sharing stories and lessons with the next generation of lineworkers. He continues to attend conferences and retirement celebrations to keep an eye on his guys.

“Bobby’s passion for doing things the right and safest way possible and investing his time and knowledge in all his students will never be matched,” says ECSC Loss Control and Safety Director Micah Thompson, who nominated Blume for the Hall of Fame. “He touched thousands of lives across the state and the country. There will never be another Bobby Blume.”